Page 106 of Silent Threat
“Dan?” She shut the door quickly before more wind and cold rain could rush through the gap. “What are you doing here?”
“You have to come with me.”
“Did your car break down?” Did he slide into a ditch and need a push? Pushing wouldn’t work in all this mud. “Stay here until the weather blows over.”
He grabbed her. His eyes usually conveyed care and concern. Right now, as he held on to her arm, Annie thought he looked determined and almost angry.
“Things could have been different,” he said, and his words had a bite to them.
“What are you talking about?”
“I chose you.”
For a second, she didn’t understand. Then ... this was about refusing to go out with him? She blinked. He was still angry about that? “You know we can’t—”
As if her words flipped a switch, Dan’s hand jumped from her arm to her neck in an instant, and he held tight. She was so startled she froze.
“Stop your fucking lies. You’re fucking a patient. You’ve disgraced your license. I wanted to mentor you! You could have been worthy of me, if you only tried. You, among all the others.” He spit the words into her face, his hard, ruthless gaze making it clear that he meant to hurt her.
She fought to catch her breath as she desperately tried to make sense of him.
They were coworkers. Friends. Bitter betrayal flooded through her again, for the second time in as many days. Was nobody what they seemed? Was everybody lying to her?
Dan shook her, his voice filled with a level of hate impossible to comprehend. “Your whoring days are over.”
Cold fear spread through Annie. This was a Dan she didn’t know—utterly unstable.A madman.
She didn’t understand much, but she understood that she was in serious danger.
“Let me go. Please.” She struggled, her fighting instinct kicking in at last, but his grip on her neck only tightened.
And then she caught a flash of plastic in his hand. He slammed it into her arm. She felt a pinch. Her brain came to a screeching halt.What’s happening?
The world went black.
Annie’s loaner Toyota stood in her driveway. The house was empty. So was the garage. No sign of struggle in either place, although her animals were agitated, the donkey doing her best to kick her way out of her enclosure.
Cole texted Murphy Dolan:You got Ambrose?
Not at home, Dolan responded.Neighbors haven’t seen him. Got APB out on him.
Good, then the cops were looking for both Ambrose and his car. He wouldn’t get far in this weather. Few people were out on the roads. The police would have no trouble spotting Ambrose if he was driving.
Cole texted his CO next.Backup?
The response was less than encouraging.Chopper grounded due to weather. Make do with local cops?
Cole was about to text Murphy Dolan for Annie’s new phone number when a text popped up on his screen. From Ambrose.Deer blind. Come alone.
A picture came next: Annie, soaked through and lifeless, lying on wet boards somewhere.
You touch her, you die.Cole sent the text, then jumped into his car, cursing Hurricane Rupert.
Water covered the road. He had to be careful if he didn’t want to go hydroplaning. The wind grew so strong that it blew the car sideways at times. Cole navigated the hazards with care, one-handed, while his mind went to the deer blind.
He’d only been there once. The blind wasn’t far from the walking path, but where exactly did he have to go off the path?Damn drugs.A year ago, he wouldn’t have had any trouble remembering. He was a freaking Navy SEAL. Heownedhis environment.
He drove to Hope Hill and ran across campus to the woods. He ran down the muddy footpath, most of it underwater. He couldn’t see footprints, dammit.
